Sprinkles abruptly closed, including its Georgetown bakery, leaving nearly 30 workers jobless and customers rushing in for one last cupcake.
WASHINGTON — The Sprinkles cupcake bakery in Georgetown closed suddenly Wednesday, leaving employees without jobs and longtime customers rushing in for a final taste of what had become a neighborhood favorite.
Bakery manager Leslie Wynter said managers across the country were told during a corporate call Monday that stores would be closing. Employees were informed the next day that the Georgetown location would shut down Wednesday.
“I keep, I genuinely keep waiting for someone to say, ‘Oh, we’re just kidding. It’s a prank,’ because it just really came out of nowhere,” Wynter said.
“There’s almost 30 people working here who relied on this for their families, for their kids, their benefits, their 401ks are all tied, we’re all tied to Sprinkles,” she said.
Wynter described the staff as more than coworkers.
“We attend each other’s graduations, birthdays. This is our family,” she said as she choked up, before adding, “I’m sorry.”
The sudden closure was especially painful, she said, because of what the bakery meant to employees.
“It’s really hard. Sprinkles meant the world to me and all of us,” Wynter said.
Word of the shutdown prompted customers to line up Wednesday night to buy cupcakes one last time.
“It’s my favorite cupcake in Georgetown,” one customer said.
Another said she rushed over as soon as she heard the news.
“I didn’t find out till this afternoon and I’m really sad, and I said that we have to come here and get these one last time,” she said.
One customer reflected on the company’s origins, calling it “a female-founded cupcake company in California,” and said she was disappointed it could not continue as part of that founder’s legacy.
During the final hours, at least one customer left with a Sprinkles T-shirt.
“I was surprised, it was very sweet,” she said, adding she was glad “to have a little piece of it even though they’re closing.”
Wynter said there had been warning signs leading up to the closure, including financial issues.
“Company credit cards not working, invoices not being paid on time, issues with our vendors,” she said, adding that she initially wrote them off.
Despite losing her job, Wynter said she hopes to donate leftover ingredients from the bakery.
“We have so, so much raw ingredients, sugar, flour, eggs, milk,” she said. “I really don’t want any of it to go to waste because I know beyond my staff all of D.C. is struggling right now.”
“Everyone could use a carton of eggs,” she added. “Everyone could use a little bit of help.”
She’s still hoping to find a place to donate them to, but hadn’t had any luck as of Wednesday night.
Sprinkles along M Street is now closed for good.
The company’s corporate office has not responded to requests for comment or provided clarity on why the store shut down.